Oil production and smuggling in ISIL

Oil production and smuggling was the major revenue maker for the self-declared state of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS),[1][2] its product being termed "the 'black gold' feeding the 'black flag'".[2] Oil extracted from fields controlled by ISIL( Islamic State Of Iraq And The Levant ) in Syria and Iraq were mainly distributed within most its territory, but also smuggled to surrounding states at below market prices.

While oil products, petrol and mazout, were the backbone of the economy of ISIL-controlled areas with mazout being the power source for generators for electricity,[2] not all energy production was provided by oil. Hydroelectric power plants had been captured in northern Syria, so the Tabqa Dam, the Baath Dam, and, from 2012-2015, the Tishrin Dam.[3] Some electric power has been sold back to the Syrian government.[4] The Syrian government was also reported to send technicians to support and maintain ISIL-controlled gas power plants, and, in return, received electricity.[5]

Oil production within ISIL developed over time reaching a peak by 2014.[6] Due to military interventions, ISIL subsequently lost much of its territory to continue oil production on a larger scale in Syria and Iraq, yet continues to produce oil from those oil fields it controls.[6]

Estimates of the income ISIL derived from its oil operations vary. In 2014, Dubai-based energy analysts put the combined oil revenue from ISIL's Iraqi-Syrian production as high as US$3 million per day.[7] An estimate from October 2015 indicated the production to be about 34,000-40,000 bpd that was sold at US$20–45 at the wellhead generating an income of US$1.5 million per day.[2] Another 2015 estimate sets the monthly income as high as US$40 million.[8] Various other reports indicated in 2015 that ISIS obtained 1.1 to 1.5 million dollars a day from selling of oil and its products.[9][10][11] At the end of 2015 increased air strikes targeting oil production and distribution started to affect oil operations.[12] Thus an estimate for March 2016 was a monthly income of about US$20 million.[13]

In 2013 ISIL moved operations from the north of Syria to its east in recognition of the importance of the oil fields for its operations, among the fields in the Deir Ezzor region such as the al-Omar, the Deiro and the al-Tanak fields, and outside this region, the al-Jabsah fields and al Tabqa fields.[14]Deir Ezzor oil field is located in Deir ez-Zor province that produces 34,000-40,000 barrels a day. al-Omar and al-Tanak are top producing and beneficial oil fields. Quality of Petroleum determined price of each barrel sold at the wellhead 25 to 45 dollars.[11]

In Iraq ISIL conquered the Ajil and Allas oil fields in northern Iraq during the Mosul campaign in 2014. These areas were later recaptured by the Iraq army.[2] Also, in north of Iraq, the Qayyarah oil field was controlled by ISIS producing 8,000 barrels a day of heavy crude oil.[9] Ajil in north of Tikrit and Himiran were important ISIS-controlled oil fields in Iraq.[15] ISIL had been able recruit engineers and expert personnel to manage the oil production sites. Oil production was centrally controlled by the top leadership. Until his death in May 2015, Abu Sayyaf had been the "emir" or top official for oil production[2] controlling oil production from 200-plus wells.[12]

At the end of September 2016, Rudaw (a Kurdish media organization) reported that ISIL no longer controlled any Iraqi oil after Shargat and Qayyarah had been recaptured by the Iraqi army.[16]

ISIL made its money at the pump where it sold its products to usually independent traders from Syria and Iraq.[14] In addition, ISIL taxed oil in the distribution system.[12] It had been estimated that there was a fleet of about 1,000 delivery trucks.[8] Oil was brought to local refineries to produce petrol and mazout.[14] Many "refineries" were just rudimentary furnaces spread along the roadsides.[17] Most of these oil products were sold within ISIL-controlled areas in Syria and Iraq by traders. Rebel-held areas in northern Syria were also receiving oil from ISIL.[14]

ISIS had several markets in Iraqi and Syrian towns and provinces. Some of the largest ISIS oil market were Manbij, Al-Bab, and Al-Qa'im.[9]

Oil smuggling to areas outside of Syria was profitable bringing contraband to Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Iran.[18] A network to smuggle oil had been in place since at least the 1990s when Saddam Hussein evaded sanctions and smuggled oil out of Iraq.[17] A report by The Guardian in 2014 suggested that corruption and bribery facilitated transport of oil from ISIL-controlled areas into surrounding areas.[18][19]

In November 2015 the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev indicated to have information that some Turkish officials had a "direct financial interest" in the oil trade with ISIL,[20] an assertion rejected by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[21]Vladimir Putin indicated that the extent of the oil smuggling had reached commercial-scale with trucks operating day and night as a "living oil pipe".[22] Several independent analysts, on the other hand, argued that the allegations of Moscow did not carry any weight.[23][24] Officials from the US responded that in their view only a small amount of oil is smuggled into Turkey and that this is economically insignificant.[25] According to Adam Szubin, acting U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, most of the oil that leaves ISIL-controlled areas is going to places that are under control of the Syrian government.[26]

In January 2016 the Israeli Defence minister alleged that Turkey was buying oil from ISIS[27] In March 2016, an RT documentary presented documents left by retreating ISIL operatives and witness reports that also suggested a link between ISIL's oil production and support by Turkey that, in turn, was benefiting from cheap oil.[28] In response to the allegations, Serko Cevdet, the head of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) energy commission, told the Turkish media that the trucks in the footage actually belonged to the Kurds and there was no way that ISIL could have transported them through a Kurdish controlled territory due to the ongoing conflict between the Kurds and ISIL.[29] Fawaz Gerges from the London School of Economics and Political Science argued that the claims about Turkey's involvement in ISIL oil trade were conspiracy theories.[30] In 2016 WikiLeaks published more than 57,000 emails from 2010 to 2016 reportedly obtained by the hacktivist group Redhack that linked ISIL with Turkey's Minister of Oil Berat Albayrak, Tayyip Erdogan's son-in-law, by allegedly "proving his connection to ISIS operation smuggling oil into Turkey," even years after Turkey banned most oil imports from ISIL.[31] Commenting on the allegations, John R. Bass, the US Ambassador to Turkey, told the press that the claims about the Turkish government's involvement in ISIL oil trade were unfounded, citing the official apology issued by the CIA with regards to the allegations in 2014.[32][33]

Arab media accused Israel of being a major buyer of oil smuggled out of the ISIL-held Syrian and Iraqi territories.[34] According to this accusation, oil was smuggled to Zakhu where Israeli and Turkish dealers would determine the price, the oil was then sent as Kurdish oil to Silopi, Turkey, and transported to Turkish ports (such as Ceyhan) and shipped to Israel.[34]

ISIL transferred oil in different ways out of its territory. Oil could be trucked to Turkey, refined there and be used in Turkey or transported to tankers at the ports of Ceyhan or Dortyol.[35] Oil could also be sold to middlemen in northern Iraq who then would mix it with legitimate oil that enter through one of many feeders the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline.[35] At the end of the pipeline it would have been difficult to determine if some ISIS oil was present in the mix that was supposed to come from Kurdish fields.[35]

Another way of smuggling was the transport of oil to Jordan. Smugglers went south through Al Anbar province towards Jordan.[9] In fact, Al Anbar was known as a major smuggling hub in Iraq.[15] Sami Khalaf, an oil smuggler and former Iraqi intelligence officer under Saddam Hussein, said that: "We buy an oil tanker carrying around 26 to 28 tonnes [of oil] for $4,200. We sell it in Jordan for $15,000. Each smuggler takes around eight tankers a week." Also, he added: "smugglers typically paid corrupt border officials $650 to pass through each checkpoint."[15]

In January 2017, US officials indicated that revenues from oil and gas sold to President Bashar al-Assad's government had become the main revenue for ISIL.[36] Trucks that previously delivered oil to Turkey and Iraq had been re-directed to territory controlled by Assad.[36]

While degrading oil operations is an obvious target for military operations, the United States was reported to have refrained from using this approach out of concerns for civilian casualties and destabilizing the life of a ten million population that depended on oil from ISIL production.[8][14][17] Also, rebel-held areas supported by the U.S. depended on ISIL oil for sustenance.[14] Further, direct hits on oil fields could lead to a natural disaster and make future use difficult.[37]

U.S. airstrike against Jeribe modular oil refinery, September 2014

While Bloomberg Business reported in the fall of 2014 that U.S. airstrikes had significantly reduced ISIL oil business,[19] the Financial Times reported in October 2015 that only 196 of 10,600 air strikes by U.S. led coalition forces were conducted against oil infrastructure since August 2014 and that ISIL continued a very profitable oil business generating about $1.5 million per day.[2] In late 2015 a U.S. spokesman conceded that the effectiveness of past air strikes against oil-related targets had been grossly overestimated while the importance of oil production as a revenue maker had been underestimated.[17]

When in May 2015 U.S. forces conducted a raid that killed Abu Sayyaf, detailed records of the oil operation of ISIL were obtained.[12] The recognition of the significance of oil for ISIL and insights into its operations led to a new focus in air strikes.[12] Thus, on 21 October 2015 the U.S. launched operation Operation Tidal Wave II in reference to Operation Tidal Wave in World War II in a renewed effort to reduce the ability of ISIL to fund itself through oil production.[1][38]

In the fall of 2015 Russia established Khmeimim air base in Syria. After the November 2015 Paris attacks the French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian indicated that degradation of oil production as the "lifeblood" of ISIL needed to be at the center of military strategy.[5] In an effort to reduce revenue for ISIL more oil tankers were destroyed later in the month.[39] Prior to targeted air raids, smuggling trucks had sometimes waited for weeks in queues near the oil fields to buy crude.[9] The defense ministry of Moscow released satellite images showing columns of waiting trucks near the border of Turkey.[40] After Russian air attacks against smuggling trucks, ISIS changed its system to prevent the formation of long queues.[9]

A report at the end of December 2015 indicated that ISIL was starting to have financial problems due to lower oil revenues resulting in lower salaries for foreign fighters and higher prices for electricity and oil in Raqqa.[41] A shortage of oil within ISIL-controlled territories had resulted in energy shortages with less electricity and water becoming available.[12] Also, smuggling of oil had decreased as it had become more dangerous and less lucrative.[12]

A 2016 analysis of ISIL's response to the air strikes on the oil infrastructure indicated the development of multiple tiny makeshift refineries in oil fields under their control.[13] These micro-refineries consisted of a pit to store crude and a portable metal furnace to distill it into fuel.[13] The operation was dirty and relatively inefficient but harder to destroy. According to Stratfor income from oil had declined to about $20 million a month (March 2016).[13]

2015 production rate and price in the ISIS-controlled oil fields[edit]